Oh, how we are all looking forward to be back in our offices again!Now more than ever we’ll embrace collegial face to face chitchat, our office desks with filled mugs on top covered with a happy family picture and being in meeting rooms full of people. The modern workplace is calling us! And we’d better be prepared when our agenda’s are filled with lots of physical meetings. We’ve gained some experience in how to work flexible and be creative during times of need. But how do we turn these experiences into habits and make smarter working a ritual? Welcome to the world of agile working and scrum!
From traditional to flexible company structures
Agile working is about working smarter rather than working harder. Within an organisation, this means that flexibility, creativity and repetition are key. We see a clear uprise of self-organising teams that carry out work in a repetitive manner. A rhythm is established to regularly have customer interaction as they are always the focal point.
Differences between hierarchical and agile organisations are becoming bigger. Bureaucratic and hierarchical organisations are characterised by individual responsibilities. There is less interaction whereas agile teams take ownership in everything they do and work autonomously. They easily switch from one project to another where there constantly is interaction. And of course main focus is on the end result, but smarter working always underpins the process. It gives us more insight into our strengths, challenges and flaws and we easily adapt ourselves in future projects.
Scrumming: you can never start too soon
There are over 40 agile methods and scrum is one of them. Current generations may not always be enthusiastic about this or may not (yet) consider it applicable to their organisation. Meanwhile, within education, Generation Z and Alpha are already immersed in the world of scrum. So these generations will soon know no better when it comes to this agile working method.
Why does it work so well for children? Right away, you give the ownership to the pupils. Self-confidence gets an immediate boost. The teacher rather determines WHAT the learning experience should be and the children gradually find out what does or does not work during a project. In this way, the teacher and the pupils form a team. And let’s face it, we adults and children alike can sometimes be great at showing stress and procrastination. With scrum, the work that is finished and that needs to be done remains clear. Everyone sees at a glance who is responsible for what and how things are going. You know what you can help someone with, or you redistribute the tasks. It creates more peace and quiet and children learn to work in a more planned way.
Lessons can also be differentiated and the teacher can take more time for pupils who have difficulty with certain parts. After all, as an adult you can’t be an expert in every part of the project or have lots of time available. With scrum, we learn to be transparent to each other in terms of planning. And our strengths and challenges are mapped out more clearly. So it gives you the opportunity to grow within your projects. We can say that projectbased and therefore smarter working is instilled at a young age. How does this look like when putting this in practice? Here you can see Team Ubbo Emmius in action with scrum for participation in the Shell Eco Marathon.
Curious if you and digital scrum can become a match, no matter if you're working at a school or a company, and how you become an expert in scrum with the help of a touchscreen? Download the whitepaper below. Read all about scrumming with a CTOUCH touchscreen.